Some Photos to Tell the Story...and Some Changes

Saturday May 2nd ~ a 6 1/2 hour walk around Trang!

I opted to stay in Trang rather than to travel this weekend. Dana left Friday and James & Evan went away for the weekend so I had time to explore on my own. I started off at a coffee shop in the morning at one end of town and then ventured down many of the streets - eyeing up souvenir gifts & researching travel info - as I began a long walk back to CCS's homebase.

A photo can tell a thousand words so here goes... (can't resist a few captions, though)

Trang municipality has about 70,000 people with about 600,000 in the surrounding area.

CCS's Homebase is about 1 km from the entrance to the Trang airport - a handy thing for someone looking for her way home.

The Clocktower - I've read its the largest one in all of Thailand. Wonderful landmark for me to keep my barings!

Sign in front of the City Hall Building near the Clocktower.

Center photo shows His Highness the King.

Intricate detailing of an elephant on the sign.

We saw a real elephant being lead down one of the city streets the day before - don't know why? CCS staff said it was really unusual.

Sign post near the City Hall building.

Sawngthaew, small pickup truck with two benches in the back, used as a bus/taxi. I was looking for one of these to catch a ride back to the homebase but none around. Since the homebase is a little outside the city - they're difficult to find. I had figured I'd probably be walking the whole way back (and had 2 offers from the CCS staff for rides, if I got tired of walking). I'm guessing I walked 6 or 7 miles total?

Like other Asian countries, cute things abound - little stuffed animals, cell phone trinkets, shirts with catchy little saying. I love cute things and have a certain weakness for certain ones of these. Needless to say, I spent a few baht here and there...

Are there many other places where you could buy a scooter with Doreman or Ariel on it?





While American car companies continue to struggle, I've seen several advertisements for Chevrolet's truck - the Colorado. I couldn't resist asking the dealership if I could have a photo with one. :) Ahh, I do miss Colorado!

STUFF THAT'S BEEN HAPPENING...

BOYS' HOME to THE DAYCARE

I loved volunteering at the Daycare with Dana last Thursday. There were about 25 kids, ages 2 to 5. The Daycare is part of a Nursing School which provides both reasonably priced daycare for working adults as well as an observation/class requirement aspect for the Nursing Students.

My role is less structured - I helped with teaching the English alphabet, numbers, colors and playing games with them. I quickly had a couple of favorite children from among the group. The children are fed breakfast and lunch, have numerous hand-washings, have meditation time & sing the national anthem (I'm told this - we didn't do these two things on Thursday), play, short teaching time and showers/teeth brushing before their afternoon nap. Extra hands are really helpful!

Well, after a lot of pondering and prayer, I requested that my placement be changed to the Daycare. The Daycare was never offered to me as an option originally. The plan had been for Dana and Holly to go there & CCS typically doesn't send more than 2 volunteers there. With Dana leaving & Holly having cancelled, I decided to ask if it was a possibility for me. Khem made the calls & I'll be going to the Daycare starting tomorrow for atleast the next 2 weeks! I'm very excited. While I value the role I had at the Boys Home, I think this will be a better fit. And, I will return to the Boys Home for either the last week or the last 2 weeks of my time in Trang. (They already have 2 volunteers, who arrive mid-May, scheduled for the Daycare. I'll only continue there if there's enough kids to make it worthwhile.)

For a lot of personal reasons, I think this will be really good for me. Top of my list is my own questions of wanting kids or not, sometime later in life. As I've gotten older and am not married yet, honestly, I've often felt that they would be too much work. Selfish, I know. I've figured maybe I would just skip parenting (that is, if I do get married...) because my time to myself is so highly valuable to me. I've felt like I have this major irony in life - how can I want to give so much in caring for other people but be unwilling to give unconditionally to a child? (I realize that it's partly b/c as a parent you surrender being able to pick & choose when you give - it's pretty much 24/7 for 18 years!) Anyway, I love children and value them so much. I hope to process through some of this through volunteering - that the Lord will expose some lies in my thinking and give me a fresh perspective.

Among my other thoughts - different schedule (start earlier, done earlier) + less stress in terms of planning and language = more time for me to pray & process through the many things I had hoped to accomplish while in Trang. Possibly good for Evan to work on his own - planning wise? The three nursing students on Thursday & I tried communicating in English & Thai - good opportunity to make some Thai girlfriends while I'm here & keep learning the language on a bit slower pace (which I reallly need - I'm sad to admit!).

And, I guess what topped off my decision is the feeling that making the change was acting out a good boundary for me. Historically, I'm not good at choosing when to leave something - almost always, I hang in there, thinking that with more work & perserverance, the task will end in success. So often, though, I go down with the ship. So, I think this decision is progress for me in this area.

So, well see how it goes! And, the reality that I'll probably be back at the Boys' Home before I leave Trang is fine with me. By then there will be a few more new volunteers so Evan & I will have the opportunity to team with them for the lessons.

SOLO TRAVEL

With Dana now gone & James leaving this weekend, it will be just Evan & I for a few weeks. I'm anticipating that any weekend traveling I will do will be alone. So, I've adjusted to this idea and will run with it. While I get recharged alone, what's the fun to go to a beach by myself? So, thanks to ALL of you who I truly feel are along with me on this journey. I'll pull up a towel next to my beach towel just for you :)

CHRISTIAN CHURCH

A total highlight to my time is learning that one of the staff, Jack, is a Christian :) Up until this weekend I hadn't gotten to ask him much about his background and his faith. I asked him if I could go to church with him this morning & he said he was glad to. Jack is from a town about 2 hours away and he normally goes home on weekends so he isn't always in Trang to attend this church. Jack said that very few of his friends are Christians.

It was a large church - typically around 500 people - and there was English translation headsets so I could hear & understand the sermon. The sermon was great - on Acts 1:1-11. The pastor really stressed waiting on God's timing, knowing and having the Word deep in your heart and being a witness through the power of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the service, two people stood up and said they wanted to accept Jesus into their hearts! So encouraging and empowering as I press on to be a light where I'm at!

After the service, a Thai woman came up & asked me I could help her with English. She has an English exam that she's failed 3x and really needs some help. I hope it works out for me to help her somehow --- she doesn't have good English and my Thai skills, well...

And, a retired man asked me if I would like to have dinner with him and his family tonight. The man spent many years in the US & has wonderful English. He gave Jack & me a ride home & spoke of how he sees everything that's happened to him as a gift from God.

Please continue to ask the Lord to use me as a witness and encouragement to those who I meet and spend time with.

Gotta go for now! Wishing you a wonderful and restful Sunday!

Love, Becky

Another week goes by...

BOYS WILL BE BOYS

Bin, Pop, Kung, Bia, J and Kit. These are a few of the nicknames of the boys from the school. (Most of the Thais that I've met have first & last names but the names are long so they go by nicknames to each other - not just for us foreigners).

The largest chunk of my mental energy in the last week has been spent thinking of ways to teach English lessons & games to help the boys learn AND to always be prepared for a twist. I'll use one of today's activities as an example: It was a continuation of one of yesterday's exercises where we had given the boys a worksheet with Thai words & English translations & a pencil drawing of each word for clarification. The words were ones like: palm tree, sky, river, grass, flower, etc. We had told them (with some translation help by Su, our female Thai translator) to take 5 English words from the worksheet and to draw them in a picture with pencil or crayons (they absolutely love to draw & I think some of them designed the tatoos that are on their bodies). When their time was up, write the 5 words in English on the back of the page, and if they could, to write a sentence with 1 of the words. Our plan was to have them read their words to the rest of the group and they would get a candy if they could write and say a sentence (some of the older boys can come up with very basic English sentences though not typically pronounce all the words. To this, we volunteers give them great credit and admiration since we can't create many full Thai sentences!). The boys got into the activity right away - but -surprise! - we didn't seem to notice that Su had left after about 15 minutes. So we attempted to communicate in a combination of a little Thai (we have some phrase cheat sheets) and a fair amount of English, what we wanted them to do. "Khian bon gradaht." (write on paper) "Haa" (5) I held up the paper with the vocab and pictures, pointed to the back of the paper, interjected a smile, wrote the names on the back and wrote a sentence, showed the class (about 12 boys this morning) and ended with "Khao jai mai?" (do you understand?)

Gratefully, Bin, one of our older boys who both knows some English and is willing to take the risk of trying to speak it, said he did understand. So, we asked him to tell the others. Which, I think he did, but only about 5 of them started to write the words and Bin didn't understand it was to be on the back of the page. (Back or front side of the page did not matter - yea! they're writing the words! I'd given up on the sentence goal by this point.) James, Evan & I start walking around the 3 tables the boys are at, checking spelling, asking them to repeat the words after us "Phuud taam khruu" (speak after teacher) and encouraging them that they'd done well.

About this time, Su returned and was able to help us again with what we asked the boys.

Next we switched to working on numbers 1 to 100 - pronounication, writing both "1" and "one", we gave out a worksheet and then tested the boys by having them come up to a dry erase board to write the answers. We had two more games - Bingo (which many past volunteers say the boys love) and a "The Price is Right" kind-of game where two teams would compete to match items to cost amounts in baht. Both of these we didn't get to & we'll save for another day. (Tomorrow we're going to help with an English camp in the city of Trang - about 200 students participating.)

We typically reward the boys with affirming words, candy and stickers (Kristi - these are the girly-looking stickers that you left with me! Amazing how much they like them and they like to use them to decorate their nametags! Thank you!!!) When we first arrive in the morning the boys come over right away to sit at the tables, they take their nametags from us and they wait to hear what we're going to do. We've learned that if we (or another group - there's 1 group that comes one morning each month for an hour or so) don't come then they boys don't have a lesson during the day.

A quick word about Su: I'm very grateful to have her help though we often don't understand what she's saying and when she doesn't understand us, her answer is always yes, with a smile. Often, I ask her to say something to the boys, she says yes, and turns away, saying nothing. Other times, I ask her one thing to say and she says a long paragraph and the boys begin a variation on one of our lessons. She still knows infinitely more English than we do Thai and we desperately need her help if we want more success - so, thank you to Su - I will not take you for granted!!

In a funny note, Evan, James & I laugh that Su seems less comfortable talking to either of them than me. It is always, "Becky, you teach now", "Becky, you tell boys lesson", "Becky, I need to go". James and Evan have sometimes felt invisible and I've not wanted to feel in charge again. Is it because I'm the oldest? I'm also a woman? Who knows! Doesn't seem to have happened with past volunteers. Today we adjusted our tactics - when Su addressed me I looked at Evan, asked for his agreement & then did the same with James. Thursday will be good - I'm not going to the Boys' Home but with Dana for her last day at the Daycare Center - so Su can have lots of direct communication with the guys!

* "REST?" & OTHER THOUGHTS OF REFLECTION

Many of you know that I have looked at my time in Trang as a possibly restful time for me to pray through pieces of the future, maybe be a little less structure-oriented (yes, I believe this is possible for me through the power of God!) and chill-out a bit. Is this happening? Well, the first two days I felt like that was happening - I read a book in the evening, watched a movie the next night with the other volunteers, it was great. THEN, we started volunteering. Of the 3 of us, I'd say I'm the most planner-oriented, James is a very close second (and I'm very grateful that he likes having a plan b/c we'd be dead in the water if we didn't come prepared to the Home - it's hard even with a plan!!) and Evan is, well, not operating on the same mindset in terms of planning. He's content to go with the flow with what we come up with. This, I tell myself (over & over again!), can be great since, in some ways, I'm working on growing in some areas to be more like Evan. In this area, though, it's stressed me out. I've felt very concerned for when James leaves and I might be doing a lot of the planning solo or atleast have to use some coersion so we plan together. Finding a balance in all of this is part of my learning curve for Trang that I feel convinced is part of why I'm here so I'm pressing on. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Likewise, I've run the gammet of feelings and emotions about the successfulness of what we're doing and all the frustrations associated with the lesson planning and execution...feels like we're reinventing a wheel that's been figured out decades ago and could be much simplier. I took some time to write out my thoughts in my journal last night and pray about how I was feeling. This morning I prayed through James 1:5-6, asking the Lord to give me wisdom about what to do. I was headed for a day of being grouchy and impatient. Praise the Lord for how He met me in my place of need. By the middle of the day, I decided to skip out on the activity for tonight so I could have some time to myself (time for this introvert to recharge!). I was feeling behind on the blog, too, and also knew that the extra time would help me in that area. Saying no to the activity, I'd say, triggered concern on our director's part so I had a long conversation with her about my thoughts. It was productive and she didn't take it as complaining (which I'm sensitive to not wanting to do - we're here to help, right?). She encouraged me about comments from the staff at the Home and the value of our work there and I was able to suggest ways she and the other staff could help us more with our Thai skills and lessons.

* YES, THERE ARE SOME PERKS

Just when I was ready to chuck my Thai phrasebook off a cliff (no, there aren't any around me) last week, the other volunteers & I did go away for the weekend. We went to Koh Phi Phi Don island, a destination that James had researched and really wanted to go to. In all fairness, I do need to mention the trip in this post. Koh Phi Phi has 2 island - a larger, Phi Phi Don, and a smaller, Phi Phi Leh. Koh Phi Phi Leh is where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. Both islands are beautiful with long-tail boats, snorkeling, beaches, monkeys and of course, mosquitos! I'm grateful for a weekend trip while Dana is here (she leaves this Friday) as I've enjoyed her company & there won't be another gal volunteering here for a while. I had my second round of stomach sickness over the weekend so I was in bed by 7:30pm on Friday night. All in all, it was a fun weekend that came at the perfect timing.

Since I still don't have any Boys' Home photos to share, I'll add a few from Koh Phi Phi!

who says a cat doesn't like the beach?

"Oh Huckleberry....time for a trip!"

This post has been long - thanks if you made it to the end! Let me know if you have something you'd like to hear more about. I'm still leaving LOTS of stuff out!

I miss you, Becky

Down South!

Hello from the coastal city of Trang!

Thanks so much for your prayers! It means so much to my heart to hear from some of you and to know that you're praying for me as well as the impact this trip can have in the lives of others.

It's been great being in Trang so far. I arrived Saturday afternoon. At baggage claim in the one-gate airport of Trang, the other 3 volunteers & I figured out who we each were & got our introductions underway. Cha, the driver for Cross Cultural Solutions, & Jack, the assistant director, met us at the airport. The CCS base is only about 15 minutes from the airport (and about 15 minutes outside of the downtown part of Trang). After we got a little settled-in, we were introduced to the rest of the staff: Khem, the program director; On, the business/finances person and Jiew (aka Mama T for Mama Thailand) & Jia, our cooks/housekeepers. I felt right at home by how much they wanted to answer our questions, were concerned about jetlag/being tired & made sure we weren't hungry. CCS has a nice homebase - capacity for about 24 volunteers they say (though we can't quite imagine that many in the house) - so we have plenty of room with just 4 of us. From about 6pm (unless we have a special evening activity) until 6am only the 4 of us are in the house - though there's a night watchman, Miaw, on guard out at the end of our driveway (I'm not sure if Miaw is there more for our security & the threat of theft or more b/c this is another way that CCS is providing a job for the local enconomy?). Here's a picture of the living room where we've met for our orientation & Thai language lessons.

Saturday evening we went on our own little version of "The Amazing Race" which was really fun. We were divided into pairs, dropped off in the downtown of Trang and given 5 tasks to complete in 90 minutes + returning to the homebase. Our tasks were focused around helpful information for our stay - finding the train station & getting schedules & costs of fares, finding a store where we could get digital photos developed, locating a travel agency & researching a weekend destination that we'd like to go to, buying an order of Ro Tee (a local dessert that the city Trang's known for) and purchasing 1 kg of dragonfruit. With limited Thai vocabulary we depended on our smiles and the graciousness of the folks we encountered. There was only one gentleman who seemed genuinely disinterested in our concerns - the rest were super helpful and friendly though not familiar with much english (which we expected for Trang). But, my teammate, James, & I got 'er done & we made it back to the home base 1st. (yeah, that is 1st out of 2 teams - guess we didn't need to be too competitive!).

I've enjoyed getting to know the other volunteers - in the photo, clockwise from bottom: Evan (19 from Vermont), Dana (19 from Massachusetts), me, James (32 from Yorkshire, England) & Khem, the program director. If you look closely, you can see Cha, our driver, in the back. The clocktower in the background is a landmark for Trang (makes me think of Back to the Future...). I'll get to spend a bunch of time with James & Evan as the three of us will be going to the Boys Juvenile Detention Home together. More on that below...

Sunday & Monday consistented of orientation time to get to know the area & more about CCS's background in Trang as well as some R&R time to get to know each other. Sunday the staff took us to an island off the coast of Trang for a grilled lunch & some time in the water & sun. It was about a 40 minute van ride to the coast from which we took a boat about 20 minutes to this little secluted spot. Absolutely beautiful!

Today was my first day volunteering at the Juvenile Detention Home. Everyday James, Evan & I will be expected to have games, lessons, something prepared to get the boys interested in practicing their English. The boys can stay at this facility for up to 90 days while they wait to hear the outcome of their case - most are in for theft. The facility has a tall chain linked fence with barbed wire surrounding the boys' grounds; guard houses watch the perimeter of the property. Currently there's about 35 boys at the

Home, mostly 14 to 17.

Today seemed to go well. We were armed with some ideas from past volunteers & spent our time doing introductions, competitive team Pictionary & a worksheet on basic body parts - we went over the English words & then had them teach us the Thai words. The boys can attend their time with us at their own will - i.e. if they get bored they can simply get up and walk away. Past volunteers left a lot of comments telling us not to be discouraged if they left - sometimes the group started at 25 and dropped to 5 by the end of the 2 hour morning period. We were encouraged. We started with 11 and kept adding on through our time - up to about 20. This is definitely a chance for me to [try to!] fit myself into the mind of a teenage boy. We rewarded them with candy & are trying to make learning a little bit of a game to keep their interest up. Looking at their faces, it hard for me to imagine them needing to be at the Home. Almost all of them look so young - and have a sense of innocence - I'm reminded of our director's consistent affirmation of the value of what we're doing - seeking to help these boys make better decisions for their futures as we invest time in them today. I keep telling them "dee mai" (very good) when they get something right and trying to catch their eyes to give them a smile. I'm ask the Lord to help each one of them see all that they can be in the future and to turn to Him. I'm glad that 80% of communication is non-verbal, I'm trying to shove a whole lot into each smile :) far more than I know in Thai at this point!

Overall the boys have some comprehension of English and seem to have a willingness to learn. I'm grateful for the opportunity of tag-teaming with James & Evan, too, as we can multiple our efforts, cut down on lesson planning and divide & conquer!

As for photos - they don't want us to take cameras to take photos :( i can towards the end of my volunteer time but even then I will need to distort the boys' faces for anything I print.

We returned to the homebase this afternoon later than planned and then had another Thai language lesson - practice, practice, practice!

That's it for now - time to head to bed!

Thinking of you! Love, Becky

Ahh, so much I’ve seen to tell you about yet time is limited – I’m sure yours, as well as mine, so I’ll stick with the highlights.

Kristi & I were grateful to return to a relatively calm Bangkok following the riots and protests of the previous week. Things had simmered down and the red shirts had conceded a defeat, abandoning camps & leaving the city with disappointment. I asked a few Thai’s their opinions & from an economy-driven-aspect they seemed annoyed themselves that the Thai holiday of Songkran was chosen for the protests as it disrupted an important time for Thailand to have tourists and the income.

We arrived back to Bangkok on Wednesday morning and headed to Khao San Road – a backpackers destination with cheap lodging and tons of stuff to buy. We were slated to load Kristi up with a ton of souvenirs and gifts to take back to the US, however the last ‘official’ night of Songkran got in our way. Not many vendors wanted to risk their stuff getting ruined while the crowds clearly valued partying instead! While I loved (well, that’s not completely true) Songkran in Chiang Mai, as it felt a bit more of a family affair, on Khao San Road it was much more of a Daytona Beach/Spring Break experience, in my opinion. Not only were we doused with lots of water, at this location (I don’t know about the rest of Bangkok?) the Thais were way more into smearing everyone with this water/flour (I think?) concoction. So, as you try to move through a sea of people – literally elbow to elbow – imagine the folks to your left and your right reaching out to touch your face or shirt to smear stuff on you…Some Thais were gentle, some a little rougher, all with good intent, I believe, though more than once it was TOO much and I needed some space! (Khao San Road during Songkran is not for the claustrophobic, that’s for sure!)
What added to our last night of Songkran (though technically Thailand extended the holiday b/c of the red shirt incident) was that I got sick on some Indian food Kristi & I had for lunch. Kristi is such a good sport – not only did she endure my love/hate feelings of Songkran (I hate being cold and I felt that way enough times to avoid some of the water throwers at all costs – including shielding myself with her body a few times), I got sick while we were walking around and threw up in my little plastic bowl while we sat on a sidewalk. (My little bowl was for dousing water on others.) Yep, good times! (Sorry to those of you who might not have wanted that picture ;-) )

the crowds of Khao San Road (top) & My "I've had enough of Songkran" face! (bottom)

KRISTI

It so much bears repeating how much it means to me that Kristi was able to travel and experience Thailand with me. She had already been to Bangkok and Koh Samet (a beach area) and I knew from long before our travel plans were definite that her motivation to go was to support and love me more than she needed to see Thailand some more. I felt her love and care for me deep down to my soul and her companionship in the last 2 weeks made the start to this adventure SO much more fun & memorable. I’m so thankful for the depth of our friendship which also lent itself to some ‘debrief’ opportunities for us to improve our communication with one another. It is a gift from the Lord to have friends that know us deeply, who applaud and nourish our strengths and who also can speak to our weaknesses gracefully with incite and love. In many ways, this aspect our ‘team’ dynamic during our traveling time has been a great preparation for my communication with the other volunteers that I’m about to meet. It was bittersweet to see Kristi off at the airport yesterday morning. So sad for me to see her go but so very grateful that she was able to come. I’ll forever cherish our experiences in Thailand together. We’re planning for a return in 35 years (if not sooner), let us know if you’d like to join us!

SOLO SITESEEING

I’ve had 1-1/2 days to recover from my stomach sickness, rest up and see a few more sites around Bangkok. With the extra time on my hands, I decided to take a ½ day tour of a floating market this morning. So worth the trip. It was about an hour outside of Bangkok & while it was quite a tourist trap, it was really fun. I almost bought a little toy for my nephew Grahm until I saw “made in china” on the bottom…hmm, what’s that about?! Since my luggage is already full, I’ve told myself not to buy anything of any size unless I’m ready to mail it to the US. This strategy had worked well so far and I’m glad to be more of an observer of the culture than a consumer of the available stuff!

I see the Lord putting people in my path that I’m grateful for: a woman from Canada who was likewise interested in some conversation & company – we ate dinner together last night; a guy from Brazil on my floating market tour who lives in Laos & who’s traveling for a couple of months – I was able to tell him a little of our time in Chiang Mai as he’s heading there tonight; a guy from Malaysia who literally knows more about US history and current events around the world than I think I’ll ever know – we had a long conversation including pondering of the sex trade - is ‘supply’ or ‘demand’ more to blame? When Kristi left yesterday, I was glad that I knew I was supposed to stay in Thailand. I pray that the Lord will continue to bring people into my life that He will influence me with as well as use me to influence.

FLEXIBILITY
My surprise of yesterday was that Holly, one of the 4 other volunteers I was to work with, has decided to postpone her time with Cross Cultural Solutions until September. She’s 19 & her parents felt uncomfortable with the events of the red shirt riots & protests. Very understandable. Of the other volunteers, only Holly & I had directly communicated and I had planned my day & lodging tonight around meeting her at the airport when her flight arrived. I was excited for the early start to this new friendship. So, while there’s a bit of disappointment on my end, I’m freshly reminded that this is a time and experience for me to remain flexible.

REFLECTIONS
For me the backdrop of this trip continues to be that I’ve made significant decisions to try new things as I consider the future. Leaving my job & going overseas for 3 months have both been enormous decisions for me, marked by the desire to find new ways to be challenged and to invest myself in serving and helping people once I return to the States.
Two songs that have really resonated with my heart are:
Whatever You’re Doing (Something Heavenly) by Santus Real
Details in the Fabric by Jason Mraz
I’m excited for the next stage of this trip – the time volunteering with Cross Cultural Solutions in Trang – and I look forward to seeing what it will hold.

Let me know how you’re doing!

Know that you’re thought of & prayed for.

Miss you, Becky

Happy Easter & Chiang Mai!

It's been a few days...let me catch you up:

First ~ Happy Easter Sunday!

"But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." Mark 16:4-6

One of the great joys of Easter is that Jesus not only gave His life for us in dying on the cross, but that He is resurrected - sin had no hold over Him - He conquered sin & death completely and sits enthroned in heaven.

Celebrating this holiday here in Thailand makes it even more personal because it is in such sharp contrast with the culture. Buddhism is represented everywhere around me, from the Buddha statues, wats (series of religious buildings in an enclosed courtyard - over 30,000 in the country) and shrines inside & outside of most buildings. Buddhism believes in making merit to earn your way to nirvana. It's unlike believing in and following Christ who tells us that we can do nothing to earn salvation from our own actions but that it's a gift (Ephesians 2:8).

Kristi & I celebrated Easter at Chiang Mai Community Church (recommended by a friend) this afternoon. I couldn't help but look around the room of about 250 people and wonder about each person's story of how and why they were in Chiang Mai. Just as it was unique that we were there today, so I'm sure each story has twists and turns of how God has been at work in their lives, taking them on a journey that's specifically theirs.

Chiang Mai

To back up a couple of days, Kristi & I arrived to Chiang Mai on Friday afternoon. At the airport there were loads of people to greet our flight - we were given flowers & parasols and there was a young troup of dancers performing some Thai dances. Tears came to my eyes as we were so amazingly embraced; I feel so fortunate to be here and to have this Thailand experience.

This show of welcome & other special things are happening around the city because of the Songkran Festival (which began today). We are here at the perfect time! We've been warned by numerous people - other foreigners as well as Thais - that we need to be prepared for a full soaking of water. For more info, go to: http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/songkran_in_chiangma.htmlchiangrai.com/songkran_in_chiangma.htmlchiangrai.com/songkran_in_chiangma.html

It has been SO MUCH FUN! I wish you were here - especially folks from EUTS (my Colorado Springs Bible study) - as you would really enjoy all the playing in water that we've done. Super-soakers, buckets of water and hoses are EVERYWHERE. Small children are the best - their excitement and sometimes timidness to surprise a Thai or a foreigner (farang) with a bowl of water is precious. Teens, adults, yound & old - everyone - is in on the fun, lining the streets & corners, ready to drench anyone walking or driving

by. Especially mischevious people add large blocks of ice to their trash can size buckets of water so the soaking is extra COLD & shocking.

Here are some other highlights of what I'm seeing each day (specifically in Bangkok, but typical throughout the journey so far):

- 4 people on a motorcyle (but rarely only one)

- small shrines/altars outside the entrace of each building or home (even gas stations)

- lush gardens, beautiful & sweet smelling flowering trees, ponds with lilypads

- portraits of the King & Queen everywhere, including outside, along roads and highways

- fruit and food streetside stands - even in the midst of conjested intersections

- new construction & delapitated buildings next to each other

- lots of stray dogs (and just a few stray cats here & there)

- friendly, smiling faces admist lots and lots of people

- endless supply of taxi & tuk-tuk (three wheeled transport vehicle) drivers looking to earn some baht

- advertisements everywhere with intriguing Thai script

I'm going to try to load some photo albums to the blog so you can see more than just a few photos. Thinkin' of you with love!

The Island of Koh Chang

It’s been an exciting 2 ½ days! Tuesday morning, Kristi & I took a 45 minute taxi ride, 5 hour bus ride, 1 hour ferry ride & 1 hour sawngthaew (truck taxi which has 2 benches along the truck bed) in order to arrive at Koh Chang. Koh Chang is the 2nd largest island in Thailand (2nd to Phuket), located near the southeastern border, close to Cambodia. It was beautiful and we loved every minute! During the bus ride we called some guesthouses on the island to find a place to stay. (I had purchased a Thailand SIM card for my phone at the airport – very easy & very handy!)
We settled on the Siam Beach Resort which had reasonable prices ($1000 baht = $30/night) for Bungalows. “Bungalows?” we thought, sounds fun, wonder what they’ll be like? Well, the resort looked great from the outside so as we walked through we were mentally patting ourselves on the back for the great deal that we had found. Our bellboy smiled a big smile and then led us through the main building, down a pathway, past the individual units with patios to where the path forked. As we rounded a corner, we finally understood where we we’re going. Our bungalow was a wood slat construction little room on stilts sitting perched about 15 feet above a steep slanted hillside flanked by trees. There were probably 12 different bungalows each tucked along the hill. Our bellboy heaved 1 of our suitcases over his head and carried it up a series of steps winding up the path – the hike reminded us of Colorado & was a great work-out each day. Take a look at the photos! We loved our primitive lodging and firmly decided it added all the more to the adventure (even if it increased our risk of malaria – note the mosquito netting above the beds)
The beach and the water were great - so restful and relaxing. We walked to find places for dinner each night where we were able to practice our Thai words. I bought a floatie intertube and loved using it in the waves. Four of the resort staff helped me with my Thai vocabulary (see photo of me w/ 2 gals). We went to a national park nearby to see one of the many waterfalls on this island.

The time when by way too fast!

Out of internet time - I'll write more soon :)

Love, Becky

arrived to Bangkok!

Hello! We arrived safely to the newer Bangkok airport and are settled into 1 evening at YWAM's Bangkok base. Our driver had some difficulty finding the base address - we're east of the city so we haven't seen downtown yet. The sites and sounds are exciting and different. People smile welcomingly at us and we were greeted warmly by the YWAMers at the base here. I hope to send some photos later. Tomorrow morning we're going to take a bus 5 hours to the south to the small town called Trat with some nearby islands, including Ko Chang, which we'll go to for one or two nights and then back north along the coast.
Jet lag hasn't been too bad though we're definitely looking forward to a early bedtime tonight!
Our hearts are open to all that is ahead of us - new friendships & experiences :)